These prize-winning photos show the complexity of the natural world

Royal Society Photo Competition BE546
A school of tropical clupeid fish exhibit synchronized behaviour to keep a healthy distance from a teenage black-tip reef shark. Sharks would cruise placidly for hours without so much as looking at the smaller fish, until, all of a sudden, they would strike and gobble up a mouthful of clupeids. The picture was taken on a shallow reef flat on Kuramathi Island in the Rasdhoo Atoll, Republic of Maldives. Category winner: Behaviour Claudia Pogoreutz, Germany/Royal Society Publishing

We often use words to describe science, but really, there's no better way to portray the intricacies of what's happening in the natural world than with photos.

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That's why Royal Society Publishing launched their new photography competition, designed to celebrate the power of photography to communicate science.

Check out these contest-winning images that show the weird behavior and inherent beauty of nature.

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This Canarian Houbarabustard male shows off his plumage in order to attract a mate in the Canary Islands.

Royal Society Photo Competition BE377
Special commendation: Biology Letters publisher’s choice Jose Juan Hernandez Martinez, Spain

This adult wild bearded capuchin monkey does his best Hulk smash using a rock that weighs almost as much as he does to crack a very resistant palm nut in Fazenda Boa Vista, Brazil.

Royal Society Photo Competition BE459
Runner up: Behaviour Luca Antonio Marino, Italy
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Tropical clupeid fish school to keep clear of a teenage black-tip reef shark.

Royal Society Photo Competition BE546
Category winner: Behaviour Claudia Pogoreutz, Germany

Tiny whisk-like hairs on this Salvinia molesta water fern can keep the leaves perfectly dry even when it's submerged for several weeks.

Royal Society Photo Competition EB41
Category winner: Evolutionary Biology Ulrike Bauer, UK
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This Bitis peringueyi adder would have been invisible had the photographer not been bold enough to blow the sand off its coils.

Royal Society Photo Competition EB58
Runner up: Evolutionary Biology Fabio Pupin, Italy

Fish get lice too, and this particular parasite thrives in Europe, East Asia and Siberia.

Royal Society Photo Competition EB63
Special commendation Steve Gschmeissner, UK
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This baboon in Cape Point Reserve, South Africa, is a real thinker.

Royal Society Photo Competition EB73
Special commendation Davide Gaglio, South Africa

The overall winning shot captured a group of common toad tadpoles from below in Belgium.

Royal Society Photo Competition EE29
Overall winner/Category winner: Ecology and Environmental Science Bert Willaert, Belgium
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A single colony of the giant Caribbean brain coral Colpophyllia natans hints at the virtuoso abilities of corals to assume a wide range of different forms and appearances.

Royal Society Photo Competition EE117
Special commendation: Proceedings B Publisher’s choice Evan D'Alessandro, USA

This Rwandan silverback gorilla contemplates the farmland surrounding Volcanoes National Park.

Royal Society Photo Competition EE183
Runner up: Ecology and Environmental Science Martha M. Robbins, Germany
Animals Nature Photography
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